European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Monday August 19, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13 comment Aryanna Quindle Cuomo is the Best candidate against Bush the hot topic is How the democrats can win in �?T92, and lord How poor is the Outlook. No matter who prognosticate about the future about the Clinton and the Wilders and the Gores the consensus seems to be that unseating George Bush will require something Akin to multiplying the loaves and fishes. In a not worried about figuring out which Democrat can win because worrying about winning is part of the problem. I want the Democrat who does no to mind losing for the Good of the nation. That a Why Mario Cuomo should run. In be been thinking about this Ever since i spent an hour with Paul Tsongas. The former senator from Massachusetts has a certain droll humor about the fact that he is the Only announced Democrat and no one has noticed. A just because people done to think you can win does no to mean they re not going to vote for you a he said sounding like a smart Fortune cookie. I love this idea forget about winning and give the people something to vote for. The democrats done to need a candidate they think can win. They need a candidate who will engage who will speak with Candor and with heat of the overwhelming economic and social problems of this country who wont approach the podium like a prom Date hoping his Corsage will match your dress. George Bush Isnit going to be re elected because he a a great Leader. He a not. The persian Gulf War glow has faded the Economy is a mess and americans Are desperate for decent jobs health care schools and housing. But Bush like Ronald Reagan is a Teflon president. Even the recession has not dented his popularity. Yet if you ask people what he stands for few can Tell you. I still done to know what a thousand Points of Light Are and i done to care. A More than metaphors a should be the democratic slogan in 1992. And Mario Cuomo should be the candidate. There Are problems with a Cuomo candidacy. Cuomo will carry the Mill Stone of new York state he will be held accountable for everything from Eastern liberalism to the a train. He has no for eign policy experience unless you count once running for mayor of new York City. But Cuomo is this country a most eloquent elected official and he will engage. He is the kind of Man who will argue not Only about How Many Angels can dance on the head of a pin but about whether they Are doing the Mambo and whether they Are doing it right. He could run a substantive Campaign a Campaign that takes on George Bush a empty platitudes and policies and sets a Clear Agenda for a party that has lost its Way in a welter of polling and positioning. If Cuomo was the candidate the presidential debates could be More than talking podiums. The republicans might still prevail. But there would have been a race a contest a real National debate Over who we Are and what we want instead of a consumer Survey on dueling slogans. And the democrats would have left footprints a maybe not to the White House but footprints nonetheless. Cuomo a dark and Complex personality is ill suited to a popularity contest. He has a self righteous Streak that detractors say will do him in on the National stage he is the kind of Man who when described As self righteous will Call to Tell you you re wrong about that. He rarely admits mistakes what that Means is that he Sticks with some positions he should modify and Sticks with others like his often unpopular opposition to the death penalty that Are Worth sticking with to say he is principled is an understatement. He can also be unlikable. His Virtues Are not cuddly a great mind a keen sense of right and wrong an ability to get to the heart of an argument. He communicates the agita of the immigrant child who simultaneously sees the dream gone wrong and believes it can come True. His patience with handlers would be Short his patience with Pap and obfuscation Shorter still. He is not politic an Odd thing for a politician and maybe a refreshing thing too. The democrats Needha Stop worrying about winning and Start concentrating on speaking up on fighting hard on setting their own Agenda on giving people something to vote for for a change. By stature intellect and disposition Cuomo is Best qualified to do that. And so he should. C Tho now York Tim Sernest b. Furgurson school s out on first amendment disputes not Long ago at a certain Barbecue restaurant in Southside Virginia where most of the customers Are Church going senior citizens a Young Man and his female Friend entered wearing to shirts. The message on his shirt was in four big red letters plus an exclamation Point. To most religious old folks and especially to those already eating it was not an appetizing word. To say it or flaunt it in Public is bad manners among the dwindling band of citizens who still have manners. I said to my fellow witness an octogenarian that if i were the manager i would have told the to shirt wearer to take his business elsewhere.,my companion As socially conservative As they get said something about Freedom of speech. The to shirt wearer sat and ate while everybody else tried to look the other Way. To shirts Are not the Only offenders against Public civility in modern America but they Are in a growth sector along with Boom boxes and Little automobiles exploding with amplified sound they have in fact provoked some useful debate about the first amendment and As we approach the Bicentennial of the Bill of rights any debate that reminds americans of that document s existence is a Public service. Like the Young Man who wore the four letter word 18-year-old Gregory Baus is not a constitutional scholar. But he knew what he was up to this Spring when he wore his anti abortion to shirt to class at Woodlawn High school in suburban Baltimore. A self described evangelical protestant he says he regularly pickets abortion clinics. His Mother works for an anti abortion group but he says he decided for him self to do what he did. He Drew on Hist shirt a dismembered fetus with the words a Kinda looks like murder does no to it it is murder and it is Legal. Its  the first few times he wore it to school it failed to stir a fuss. Then he asked an assistant principal for her opinion and she gave it. She also ordered him to take off the shirt. He refused and was driven Home. Later the school officials backed Down but the eventual result was a lawsuit in which Baus accuses them of violating his free speech rights. The Case recalls the Flag burning controversy so eagerly fanned by president Bush As Well As the Flag flaunting in recent controversy at Harvard if burning a . Flag can be considered political speech wearing a to shirt obnoxious to some viewers must be speech too. And if flying the Confederate Flag despite protests is permissible on a University Campus then wearing a political to shirt on a High school Campus must be All right too. But there Are differences among these cases and even a first amendment fanatic should recognize reasonable doubts bout whether its guarantee of free speech applies equally to All three provocations. The key difference is where each of these alleged offences took place and who did or did not censor them. The anti Flag burning Laws knocked Down by the supreme court for example applied to Public places. The would be censors were state governments. But at Woodlawn and Harvard the to shirt and Confederate Flag were displayed on campuses one Public and one private. The would be censors were school officials with the theoretical authority to control that environment. But in the spirit of free speech they allowed to shirt and Banner statements to flourish. At Woodlawn the governing policy banned Only shirts considered obscene or libellous by the principal. At Harvard the stars and bars was Hung out a dormitory window As a conservative students protest against the University a northeastern liberalism. A if they talk about tolerance they better be ready to have it a the student told a reporter. In response Black students offended by the Confederate Flag Hung out a Swastika Banner but took it Down after protests by jewish students. The uncomfortable University president stuck by Harvard a free speech tradition and refused to ban either display. The discomfort at Harvard and Woodlawn could have been headed off if those officials had made and enforced rules against All dormitory banners and All decorated to shirts whatever their message. Trouble came when particular messages were flaunted after myriad others were tolerated. Under the first amendment schools can make rules of among. More lessons follow. C the Baltimore Sun under the Sirsi men Mem St Nubia we . Dress and deportment. When they Start choosing Jong political statements they Are on shaky ground. The opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government